Program Chairs: Coleman Hutchison & Matt Cohen, The University of Texas at Austin

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS: George Bornstein, The University of Michigan Jeffrey Masten, Northwestern University Phillip H. Round, The University of Iowa

Deadline for Proposals: January 2, 2012

This off-year conference will bring the Society for Textual Scholarship to a campus with internationally significant archival holdings, in one of the most interesting cities in the United States. A number of on-campus resources--the Harry Ransom Center, the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, and the Benson Latin American Collection, among others--and the vast multicultural attractions of Texas's capital city and technology hub make this an exciting venue for the meeting.

Given the local context of the conference, we especially encourage submissions dealing with issues of race, ethnicity, cross-cultural textual questions, and translation--issues reflected in our choice of keynote speakers. As always, the conference is particularly open to considerations of the role of digital tools and technologies in textual theory and practice. Papers addressing aspects of archival theory and practice as they pertain to textual criticism and scholarly editing are also most welcome.

Submissions may take one of the following forms:

1. Papers. Papers should be no more than 20 minutes in length. They should offer the promise of substantial critical or analytical insight. Papers that are primarily reports or demonstrations of tools or projects are discouraged.

2. Panels. Panels may consist of either three associated papers or four or five roundtable speakers. Roundtables should address topics of broad interest and scope, with the goal of fostering lively debate between the panel and audience following brief opening remarks.

3. Workshops. Workshops should pose a specific problem, tool, or skill set for which the workshop leader will provide expert guidance and instruction. Examples might include an introduction to forensic computing or paleography. Workshop leaders should be prepared to offer well-defined learning outcomes for attendees, and describe them in the proposal. Proposals that are accepted will be announced on the conference website and attendees will be required to enroll with the workshop leader(s). NB: All workshops will be scheduled for Thursday, 31 May 2012.

Proposals for all formats should include a title; abstract of the proposed paper, panel, seminar, or workshop (500 words maximum); and the name, e-mail address, and institutional affiliation for each participant. Workshop proposals in particular should take care to articulate the imagined audience and any expectations of prior knowledge or preparation.

***All proposals should indicate what, if any, technological support will be required.***

*NB: We have secured on-campus housing for the conference at the rate of $70 per night. Conference participants who wish to arrive early and/or stay late--perhaps to take advantage of UT's vaunted archival resources or Austin's music scene--are welcome to do so.*

All participants in the 2012 STS conference must be members of STS. For information about membership, please contact Secretary Meg Roland at mroland@marylhurst.edu or visit the Indiana University Press Journals website and follow the links to the Society for Textual Scholarship membership page: http://www.iupress.indiana.edu/.